The present invention relates to an electrical connector for a printed circuit board, and more particularly to an electrical connector having an insulative housing on which is provided resilient latching members integral therewith for the releasable securement of a printed circuit board, wherein the latching members are actuated via assistor members.
Socket type connectors for printed circuit boards have steadily evolved from the common direct insertion types to various alternate forms of connectors that attempt to overcome the deficiencies of the former. One important type of connector belonging to the latter category includes those connectors characterized in that a printed circuit board is installed by first intromitting the board therein at a first angle with respect to the housing of the connector and then rotating the board into a functional position on the housing, wherein the board is in electrical communication with the conductive terminals within the housing and is held in position by means of resilient latches in abutment with side portions thereof.
These types of connectors can be further categorized in accordance with the implementation of their latching means. In a first method, the connectors are provided with integral resilient latching members on the insulative housings thereof that are flexed into and out of engagement with a printed circuit board. Exemplary connectors of this type were disclosed by Walse et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,172 (Mar. 11, 1986) and by Regnier et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,013 (Dec. 15, 1987). Though being quite effective, the integrally molded latching members employed therein tend to fail after repeated flexures. Even in the connectors of this type having more robust structures, creep deformation after extended usage especially at elevated temperatures tends to be inevitable. A second later method of implementation was devised in order to overcome these and other shortcomings of integral latch type connectors, wherein a separately attached latching member of pressed metal provides securement between the connector and printed circuit board. Various specific implementations have been brought forth in the prior art including those disclosed by Korsunsky et al in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,995,825 (Feb. 26, 1991) and 5,013,257 (May 7, 1991), and by Yagi et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,429 (Apr. 2, 1991).
The connector of the instant disclosure employs both integral latch members and separately formed and attached metal assistor members, whereby the resilient assistor members assume the major portion of the applied forces during insertion or removal of a printed circuit board so as to overcome the frangibility problems of the integral latch connectors. The connector of the present invention provides for a synthetic housing and formed metal members of relatively simpler geometry in comparison with the corresponding members on connectors relying entirely on separate latching members for resilient securement. Tooling expenses and material expenditures in manufacturing would thus be correspondingly less. In addition, the dimensional tolerances of the separately formed latching members and housing of the prior art connector result in inherent inaccuracies in the positioning of the abutment surfaces on the former once it is disposed within the receiving recesses or cavities of the housing. The tolerances of a circuit board positioned thereby further exacerbates this problem which can adversely influence the smooth operation of the latching members or even accelerate wear in the connector. Further, as the metal latching members of the prior art connectors would contact directly a printed circuit board held thereby, possible shorting or reactive coupling of the densely packed circuitry thereon could occur. Whereas, in the connector of the present invention the actual latching surfaces used are unitarily formed with the insulative housing thereof. Yet another advantage of the connector of the present invention stems from the horizontal alignment of the actuating tabs thereon, i.e. the manipulating portions of the assistor members that enable their flexure. Typically, the metal latching members of the prior art connectors, as in the aforementioned disclosure of Korsunsky et al and Yagi et al, have corresponding members that are vertically aligned such as to dictate manipulation from a lateral side of their housings that requires force application along a substantially horizontal direction. This arrangement can prove problematical in a dense environment where space is limited, making access to the latching members difficult. The horizontally aligned actuating tabs employed in the connector of the present invention, however, can be manipulated from a vertical orientation directly over the housing without requiring access to the surrounding lateral spaces. The usability and convenience of the electrical connector is thus also significantly increased.